On Universal Complications
by Scarabbug
Summary: Ten crossovers, ten worlds, ten reasons not to tangle with Reality as the Crew of YuGiOh know it. Ten crossovers, including Batgirl, Kim Possible, Gunslinger Girl, Doctor Who, Haibane Renmei, Spiral, Ace Lightning, Coraline, Knight Rider, and Season Zero.
1. On Gothic Architecture

**Ten crossovers. Ten realities. Ten very good reasons not to tangle with Reality as the Crew of YuGiOh know it. Consists of ten individual one-shot crossovers starting with YuGiOh-Batgirl. Inspired by Scribbler's Ten drabble YuGiOh crossovers, except I'm not as good at keeping to just 100 words.**** Standard disclaimer apply. ****

* * *

**

On Gothic Architecture. 

'Who are you?'

She doesn't answer.

Not in so many words, anyway. Instead, a hand reaches out and traces his jaw line, following the curve of his cheek. There are gloves covering her fingers made of black cloth and some kind of rubbery, durable material that was clearly designed to survive falls from high buildings and bullets to the chest. And it's all black, black, black, no matter where he looks. Even her eyes and mouth are covered, muffling her face, hiding everything. Looking at it like that it's no wonder they all mistook her for just another part of the building's shadow-encrusted architecture. Perfectly sculpted. Hard as stone. Dangerous.

'I'm –gomen-nasai– I…I'm Ryou.' He struggles to remember the correct terms in English. 'My name is Ryou Bakura. Are you…?' he blinks hard, swallowing the question. Could this alleyway _be_ any darker? And could she be any more imposing and terrifying even when she stands at five-feet-ten and right on his eye level? She'd been so much smaller than the thugs she'd lashed out against and yet she'd defeated them as well.

She doesn't seem to care about it. Or perhaps his name is something she has no interest in. But it is _her_ kind that drew him here, to some dark city on the edge of America and he's not willing to leave until he lets her know of his existence, just as she has let him know of hers.

Hers.

He can't get over that.

The material creases as her mouth opens behind the mask. Then it closes again. Her shoulders shrug. Her hand imitates a yapping dog and Ryou finally realises what is wrong with her.

'Oh! You don't… understand me. Do you? Can you talk?'

'Nnn. Noh.'

It's a single word but she struggles with it anyway.

'I see,' he licks his lips, tasting dried blood behind his tongue. How strange. They always said the Bat was male, though perhaps that isn't the case. Or perhaps it is and she's some kind of partner, or substitute.

As they stand together in the darkness like a pure total contrast of blackness and white, Ryou realises that he doesn't want to think of her as a substitute. It is the Bat who has saved him tonight and no other details are important.

'Home,' she said again, pointing off in some direction. He doesn't know which. 'You. Now.'

He feels a little silly, then, because he hasn't even said: 'Thank you,' he whispers. 'I mean. For those guys. Stopping them. Thank you, Bat…' He pauses. He wonders. '…Batgirl.'

The kiss is pressed to his cheek through the flexible material of her mask. Sudden, cool and disturbing hard. It's communicative enough, though. Then it is gone again, as quickly as it came, and so has she. Vanishing into the darkness as if she'd never been here.

Ryou picks up his suitcase and resumes his walk to the apartment.

**Batgirl crossover. In case you hadn't realised. **


	2. On the Sitch

**Ten crossovers. Ten realities. Ten very good reasons not to tangle with Reality as the Crew of YuGiOh know it. Consists of ten individual one-shot crossovers starting with YuGiOh-Batgirl. Inspired by Scribbler's Ten drabble YuGiOh crossovers, except I'm not as good at keeping to just 100 words.**

* * *

On the Sitch.

'This thing is _evil_,' she says, and she doesn't really want to go into any deeper detail about that because as much as she adores the new technology Wade keeps throwing out at her, this is something she might consider just a bit too geeky for comfort. Computer games? Not her department. Not really. Never have been, never will be. Just a little too close to the kind of thing which will make her whole school life miserable and while she's fully prepared to save the world in every way, shape or form necessary, those forms don't usually involve wearing weird…

…Well, okay, so they _did_ often involve wearing weird contraptions, but Wade usually did a better job of making them at least _appear_ reasonably ordinary. Whoever designed this thing has obviously tried his hardest to make it look like the user is wearing a nineteen-eighty disco-is-dead-type artefact. Or something.

'I'm serious. It even _looks_ evil. Like something out of the movies. And where am I supposed to put _these_ things anyway?'

'_There's a card containment slot on the upper right side, just under the life points gauge_,' Wade's voice comes back to her without so much as a thought for geekiness but then, that's perfectly normal. '_They say it's the biggest up and coming piece of tech in the Japanese industry which doesn't involve mobile cels or toilets. It's earning a fortune for its creators and tournaments the world over are using these developments. It's only a matter of time before it takes the American collectors industry by storm._' Wade actually sounds… just a little bit jealous, there. Which is almost enough to make her smile but, still that doesn't change the fact that she's wearing a…

'_Duel disk_? I mean come on, that name is the _worst_ thing. It's not even a _disk_. And they play _card games_ with this?'

'_So I've been told. That guy, over there?'_ (Kim doesn't know how Wade can see "that guy over there" but she's getting kinda used to him knowing this stuff anyway. _'Is the World Champion three times over and he's not even outta high school yet. _Duel Monsters_ has taken him from one side of the globe to the other and you should _see_ what they're paying out for those tournaments.'_

'Sure would explain all the leather,' she mutters.

'_Anyway, this time it just happens to have brought him to you.'_

'Aaand he's brought his own monsters with him. Wonderful. So you think he's on our side?'

'_You tell me, Kim. His stats _seem_ clear enough, legally. No criminal records, no previous prosecutions or arrests, but… well there's a couple of _international incidents_ he was somehow involved with here that I really don't think I can explain. The Monster City issue from a few months back, for example?' _

Kim blinked. 'The South American one that was all over the news?'

'_That's the one. Plus the guy's passport is checking out for countries all over the place. I figure that's got something to do with all the Tournaments he enters but… I dunno. I don't think they've ever _had_ a Tournament in _India.'

Kim stares at her still smiling, bright, purple-eyed opponent for a few very long seconds. He certainly doesn't _look_ like he's been hired by Drakken so much as he does a fashion statement from an eighties punk disco night.

'You know, the leather and cufflinks are so very much last year, kid.'

'I'm not wearing it because it's _my_ style,' the boy shrugs, smiling slightly, English just a little bit broken but way better than her Japanese, so Kim decides that maybe it's better not to ask, this time around.

'Sure, whatever you say, kid. So are we doing this or what?'

The boy only hesitates for a moment before nodding. 'I'm there. I need to help my friends. They got involved in this somewhere along the way, and…'

'That happen often, huh?'

'Kinda.'

Kim smiles without really meaning to. Why didn't that surprise her in the slightest? Ah well. 'Yeah. I know _that_ feeling.'

She grins at him widely and decides not to say anything more about the leather. 'So, are you gonna ask for the sitch, duel disk boy, or should I?'

* * *

**Kim Possible crossover. **


	3. On A Mission

**Okay. See, this one was originally gong to be Rebecca centric, for obvious reasons, but then I kinda watched some subbed episodes of YuGiOh: Season Zero (you know, the one that never aired outside of Japan) and Yugi's little totally-voiced-by-a-girl squeakiness just… wormed into my brain and I kept thinking "_psychopath-ize that kid and you've got a Gunslinger, _big time". So… this happened instead of Rebecca. Yeah. Standard disclaimers apply. Also, try to think of this one as part of manga-series canon.

* * *

**

On a Mission. 

'_Yugi, we need to talk.'_

'_I… I know.' _

'_Why didn't you stop?'_

'_I…'_

'_The whole room. You took out the whole room, you know you were only supposed to take out one person, nice and quietly.' _

'_I couldn't… stop it.' _

'_Yes…?'_

'_I just… I just snapped, sir. I'm sorry. I… I don't know why.' _

'_It's alright… we'll fix it. You're just a little bit confused that's all but we'll all make it right before we send you out again.' _

* * *

He can't…

…He can't remember the right _words_.

That's frustrating, and a little bit scary. Which annoys him, because he's not supposed to be scared. They always tell him that…that's what they always say to him and he knows how important it is that he doesn't forget. Only he does forget and…

He can't help it.

The boy with white hair is still stood stock still on the pavement in front of him. There is no one else around. The two of them are alone and staring at each other and Yugi can't remember what it is he's supposed to do, when he meets someone who calls him by his name.

'I… you're going to have… to explain all this to me, Yuugi-kun. I don't… I don't understand you're… you shouldn't be…' he slumps a little. Yugi doesn't understand why. He doesn't understand everything and it's all just so _confusing_. He plays with the sharp knife hidden in the body of the rod behind his back and that makes him feel a little bit better, but not better enough. He feels his hands are shaking and he doesn't know why.

What is he supposed to _do_?

'Yuugi… you're _dead_, I… we saw the car, we say it hitting… Why are you _here_, Yugi-kun? _Please_ tell me.'

Yuugi's not supposed to tell him anything. He knows this very well. He knows he shouldn't and he can't and anyway… what would there be to say? He doesn't have any idea what the boy is talking about…

The white haired boy is on his knees in front of him. 'It's… it's me, Yuugi-kun. It's Bakura. Bakura Ryou. You know that, don't you? It's… it's me, and… you're right here. I'm not dreaming, I… we have to tell them, you have to show everyone that you aren't… Yuugi?'

He pulls back. He looks… frightened and Yuugi is still too confused to react to that but he knows when people look at him confusedly it means trouble. It means he's done something wrong.

He thinks that this could be a problem when he gets home… He feels like he has to get home very quickly.

The white haired boy doesn't know what to say, now. Yuugi hasn't remembered the name he gave him, because he knows he's not supposed to remember any details at all, if he can help it.

And wrong. It must be wrong. But if this is wrong, then what is _right_?

'…Yuugi-kun.'

The boy's arms are around his neck again, but it's not the kind of choke hold or stranglehold's that Yuugi is familiar with. It feels so much more familiar and strange and…

Wait…

Oh, yeah. That's right…

Yuugi opens his mouth and states the words he knows he heart. 'I'm… Sorry…'

Was that really right? It sounded right, it _felt_ right.

And raising the gun in one hand to point directly into the white haired boy's face, it felt… more right than anything else. That was what was _supposed_ to happen. That was the way it always worked.

...Only it _wasn't_. Not really it wasn't it…

It _was_ right.

Either way it was too late now. He's already struck, knife and blame because one thing he does remember is you should try and use the quiet things if you're close by, because it makes less mess and leaves less evidence, so people can't catch up to you. He can feel the blood soaking and the tight grip weaken in his shoulders. He seems the body slumping and the brown eyes widen in shock and panic. 'Y-Yuugi-kun…'

And this time, when his mouth opens, Yugi remembers exactly what to say. 'Goodbye.'

* * *

**Crossover/AU with Gunslinger Girl. **


	4. On the TARDIS

**Ten crossovers. Ten realities. Ten very good reasons not to tangle with Life As the Crew of YuGiOh know it. Consists of ten individual one-shot crossovers. Inspired by Scribbler's Ten drabble YuGiOh crossovers, except I'm not as good at keeping to just 100 words. Standard disclaimers apply. And now, here's one for all the British readers.**

* * *

On the TARDIS.

'Time to save the world again, eh? Why does that always end up being _our_ job?'

…Actually, she figures that she's starting to put Yugi out of a job in that department. Then again, he is pretty much confined to just one spot in the timeline. If they let the Other Yugi loose anywhere outside of his current space and time Rebecca doesn't what to think about what kind of hell would break loose.

She hopes he's alright and that all this crazy green stuff hasn't already spread as far as Japan. Afterwards, she's going to have to take Him to meet the other Yuugi and see how much of a fuss he kicks up about it.

_**Smash. Clatter. Screech. Blurgh. **_

'Uh, Specs? Not that my genius isn't unparalleled or anything, but I could really use a little _help_ over here.'

…Once the bad guys finally stop trying to kill them again, that is.

_**Clatter. Screech.**_

'You know, I've been thinking…' she says, evenly, listening to the screens and hoping this isn't the day the old girl's door is finally going to give way on them. Nothing has ever _actually_ been able to get in before. What was it the other girl had told her? Something that she said he'd said to her once before the other universe mixing mess had started and she got dragged off to that other reality…?

Oh yeah, that was it:_ "The hoards of Genghis Kahn couldn't get through that door. And believe me, they've tried."_

Then again, the hoards of Genghis Kahn probably hadn't been mind controlled sand possessing supernatural strength in basic human forms. Rebecca doesn't even want to think about the disgusting mess left behind whenever those fragile human bodies are taxed beyond their supernatural limits and left to rot to pieces. Or explode, whichever happens first. It's usually exploding.

Seriously creepy.

Thirteen years old, she thinks, despondently, is _way_ too young to be dying at the hands of some creepy, mind-controlled, (green) human symbioses or whatever they are. And she doesn't even have her deck with her. she always swore she'd go down with that.

'Oh, _thinking_. Yeah, that's good and all, Rebecca, but you know it's not all that apt right _now_, really. Haven't you got more _important_ things to do?'

**_Clatter. Crunch. Gurgle. Scream. _**

'I'm _thinking_,' Rebecca went on, dryly, completely undeterred by everything from his disguised anxiety to the violent shaking of the cockpit. Or control room. Or whatever the hell you called this darn paranormal, time bending contraption. 'That I would have been a whole lot better off if I had never gone near you will a barge pole, Doctor.'

**_Crack. Crack. Tremble. _**Bright, purple lights flashing from panels Rebecca had never actually seen light up before and never wanted to again.

'Yeah, thanks, Specs, that's sweet. 'I'll remember that the next time we go to Paris, I really will. Right now, though, could you lend me a hand here, before we both _die_?'

Rebecca sighs, grits her teeth and hopes the supernatural forces currently turning the faces of people in the street outside bright green and zombifying them doesn't break through the door in the fifteen minutes it's going to take him to explain exactly what the thingamabob is supposed to do and for her to master using it.

Then she calmly and quietly gets to work on using her own not insubstantial genius to help him save the world.

Again.

**_Scream. Screech. Scream. _Scream

* * *

**

**Doctor Who (Tenth Doctor) crossover. Though I guess you can think of it as ninth if you really want to. Reviews are appreciated. **


	5. On Naming

On Universal Complications.

Ten crossovers. Ten realities. Ten very good reasons not to tangle with Reality as the Crew of YuGiOh know it. Consists of ten individual one-shot crossovers starting with YuGiOh-Batgirl. Inspired by** Scribbler's **Ten drabble YuGiOh crossovers, except I'm not as good at keeping to just 100 words.

* * *

On Naming.

They look mostly normal, he registers. It's the rings of light around their heads that are the most distracting. He has no idea how they're staying up there, as some strange rule of logic is telling him they really shouldn't be able to, and yet they do.

He also, he notices only vaguely after he's started to grow used to their appearance and the strange calm nothingness of this whole situation, feels like a dead weight.

'Yeah. It does that. Let me know the moment it starts to hurt, alright? No trying to play the tough guy like _some_ people.' She casts a sideward glance at the blond boy besides her. He snorts beneath his breath.

'Pfft. Man, it didn't hurt _that_ much.'

'Huh. Oh, sure, that's just what you said while you were screaming your lungs out.'

'Tsunami!' Anzu glances at the other boy and hisses. One of her wings seems to flick out far too sharply and brush across Tsunami's face.

'Ach! Alright, Anzu, _alright._ We get it: No scaring the new kid, but hey, he's gonna have to feel the pain for himself, sooner or later.'

The boy grips the sheets beneath him, imagining the current strange tickle across his shoulder blades turning into full on, searing pain. To distract himself from the thoughts and the headache, he refocuses his attention on the brown haired girl with kind, blue eyes.

'Anzu. That… that mean's _peach_, right?'

'That's right,' she smiles at him. 'Can you believe I had such a ridiculously boring dream as sitting in a white room with a bowl full of peaches? I didn't even get to eat any of them. But that's what I dreamed, so that's what they called me. And this guy here?' she gives the blond boy a tap with the back of her hand. 'He had _castles_ on the brain. He was lost inside of one…'

'Hey, I was so _not_ lost; I was just… wandering about in there.'

'Oh, come _on_, Jounouchi, it was only a dream, there's no shame in saying you were lost.' She looked back at the new boy, smile returning.

'And Ryou…' the boy has to pause and think about it. 'That one's… Understanding?'

'Albeit the lack of it,' the boy Ryou responds, calmly, staring slightly vaguely off to one side. 'I really didn't get a single _thing_ going on in that dream though I am quite certain I had one… it was all mixed messages and strange thoughts. Like I was dreaming without pictures. I imagine as past lives go, mine must have been rather confusing.' The new boy doesn't doubt it. The thing is, though, that ring of light looks more correct on Ryou than it does on anyone else. Even Anzu. He also, the boy notices, appears to have a very strange habit of twitching his wings at regular intervals, or perhaps they twitch without him noticing.

'And then there's you,' Ryou added, looking up for the first time, deep brown eyes meeting with the new boy's.

'Yeah,' the other boy who's name the boy doesn't know yet smiles. 'What did you dream about, kid? Whatever we call you we base on that.'

It takes him a while to remember. Maybe he's the kind of person who doesn't ever remember his dreams.

'Domino,' he mutters.

'Sorry? What was that?'

'There was an old man,' the boy said evenly. 'An old man with a headband and we… we were playing dominos.'

The blond boy –Jounouchi– blinks. 'Playing _what_ now?'

'I think it was a game,' he said, slowly. 'With small black dots on top of white tiles.'

'Oh.. .well that's… an easy one,' Ryou hesitates and bites his lip. 'At least you knew exactly what was happening.' Yugi doesn't say anything to contradict that statement. Somehow he has a feeling it wouldn't help if he had to explain to them that as he played domino's, another carbon copy of himself had been shifting all the pieces as he lay them on the field.

Everything feels hard and dry and much too warm, and his head hurts worse than before, the pain travelling down his neck and tensing around his shoulders. He doesn't even realise he's doubling over in pain until he recognizes the feeling of Anzu's hands against his bare shoulders.

'Hey. It's alright. It won't hurt forever.' He feels her turn away from him and her tone changes when she glances at the door or one of the other boys. 'Get the others _out_ of here already, you idiots. Especially those kids staring in around the windows.'

'My head…'

'It's not your head,' she says softly. 'Or at least it won't be, in a few moments. It's alright, though, I'm right here. I'll always be here.'

'She's not lyin' you know. Seriously, we've been putting up with her for years.'

'Zip it, Jounouchi.'

'I know that, I'm trying to provide a distraction.'

_Jounouchi. _

He decides, briefly in the few moments he has before the pain starts making it difficult to think, that he really likes Jounouchi, too. He likes the way he smiles and tries to pretend that things are okay when he really knows they aren't.

The twinge is spreading downwards, now, and growing stronger. Breathing deeply isn't helping. In fact, it's making things worse. It's like extra bones are forming beneath his skin and ripping through the tissue that's already there, so they can feed off the air in his lungs. Anzu's hands are holding his just tightly enough for him to feel them and she keeps on saying its okay over and over, so he tries his hardest to believe her.

He can feel tickling around the pain and tearing. The tickling of feathers, he realises, with an acknowledgement that makes him want to screw up his eyes and scream. He doesn't, though, if only because he doesn't want to sound silly in front of Anzu.

He won't scream. He won't scream. He _won't_.

* * *

It doesn't hurt any longer, but it's still too warm. He's lying face down, though he doesn't know how he got there. He figures it would've been difficult to lie back on his wings, so… 

_Wings_.

For the first time since this whole thing started, he knows that he's afraid.

He can still hear the others there, though, which helps. They're still talking about him in voices that sound like whispers. A hand is brushing across his forehead and he knows somehow it belongs to Anzu.

'Domino? C'mon, Anzu, that's not a name! Surely you're not thinking of calling him that.'

Jounouchi. And Anzu. He knows them both now and hopes he won't forget everything all over again, before he wakes up.

'No, not exactly,' Anzu said, softly. 'I'm thinking of calling him Yuugi.'

* * *

**Crossover with Haibane Renmei.**


	6. On the Game, Part One

**Here's another crossover. Anime, again. Standard disclaimers apply.

* * *

**

On the Game, Part One. 

A whole minute had passed since the game had ended, and neither of them had said so much as a word.

'It had nothing to do with crushing you, you know. It never… that's not why I did that. You understand that, yeah? It's just that it's my dragon, my Red Eyes.' Jounouchi grnned. 'I like sharing victory with the guy.'

'You couldn't have drawn the red Eyes Black Dragon based on the possible outcome drawing a card would have,' Ayumu murmured and kepthis eyes fixed on the field. 'It was only logical…'

Jounouchi smiled and pulled the cards on the table back into his deck. 'Yeah. I guess that must be where you made your mistake, Ayumu-san.'

Ayumu looks up, frowning, intent, and Jounouchi sees a boy lost within losing, someone who actually hasn't acknowledged how freaking good he was at this game. BecauseNarum hadn't even touched Duel Monster cards before today, Hiyoto said. He didn't know the strategies or the rules and yet the only reason Jounouchi had won was because of a few lucky moves in a few lucky places.

Ayumu lost. But he lost _spectacularly_. And if you're going to go, why not go with style?

Why didn't he see that?

'Ayumu…' The girl on the side of the field whispered, and she was smiling and frowning at the very same time. Yugi, for his part, remained still and silent.

The boy continued to gaze at him, firm, unyielding and searching desperately for his own mistakes. For what he did wrong. Jounouchi wanted to tell him to buck up, already. He didn't do _anything_ wrong, he just lost. _Everyone_ loses. Even the King of Games down there himself.

'You don't just duel from that big space up here, you know,' Jounouchi tapped his left temple with the leftover cards in his deck and then moved that hand to his heart. 'You duel from what's in _here_. At least, that's how I do it. You worked that out a while ago, right?' he frowned a little harder, keeping his gaze on Ayumu's untouched deck. 'So… so why'd you turn back to logic again? Why'd you assume I'd make the _logical_ choice when you know m duelling comes from as much the heart as anything like that?'

No answer. There seemed to be no answer Ayumu could give.

'You don't trust the heart very much, do you, Ayumu?'

Jounouchi looked at Yuugi – no, The _Other_ Yuugi, Jounouchi realised, after a moment. Damn it was really _annoying_ when that happeneds. When he didn't even realise which Yuugi he was looking at until he opens his mouth– but Ayumu doesn't, even though Jounouchi knows he's listening to every word that Yuugi's saying. 'You need to learn to do that, Ayumu-kun. You need to learn. You could learn a lot, from this one. Jounouchi trusted the Heart of the Cards. That is the reason he was victorious.'

He was looking at Jounouchi now, both of them smiling firmly.

'Oh he knows all that,' the girl says, evenly, snapping them both out of their silence. 'He just likes to pretend otherwise. Ayumu catches on, I don't doubt his judgement.'

Ayumuy shuffled uneasily, reaching a hand to touch the deck still lying on his playing friend. 'Hiyomo…' he murmured.

She smiled and brushed a plait out of her face. 'Come on, Ayumu. We've got a tour of Domino City to finish before we go home and I really want to see that cool newspaper studio they've got near the Duel Dome. We can always come back and duel Jounouchi-kun again later, right?'

'Right…'

So then? wanna go see? I'm getting a crick in my neck from looking up at that duelling platform already.'

Ayumu stayed looking at Jounouchi for another few moments longer, and then he reached out to take Hiyoto's outstretched hand.

Mo Hitori No Yuugi smiled a little and turns his head towards Jounouchi.

Maybe, Jounouchi thought, they weren't all that different after all, him and Ayumu Narumi.

* * *

**Crossover with Spiral.**


	7. On the Game, Part Two

On Universal Complications.

** Second parter, consider this as the same fic as the last chapter. Standard Disclaimers apply. **

* * *

On the Game (Part Two).

Only one question seemed capable of penetrating Jounouchi Katsuya's mind right then, as he lifted the key the other boy has placed on the table before him.

What the hell was it about these kids and _bombs_, anyway?

The boy merely smiled, eyes glaring like a cats, and all the confidence and certainty Jounouchi seemed to have a few moments ago was just… gone, vanished, just like his life points had in that Duel against Narumi.

'Okay,' he muttered, fingering the key. 'Okay, fine. This key right here stops a bomb. Sounds fairly usual. And we've got to find that bomb before you freaks can let it off, right? Just another one of your weird cat-and-dog mind games. What's the matter? You running out of good ideas, or something?'

'Hm. Not exactly,' the boy adjusted his glasses, smiling and frowning all in one. 'More accurately, Jounouchi Katsuya: the bomb will have to find you.'

…Which made no sense.

'What, so the bomb's _alive_, now?'

'Try to use whatever brains you actually _have_, Katsuya,' the boy muttered, sounding vaguely like Kaiba on one of his slightly less irritated occasions. 'The bomb's not _alive_, it's attached to something that _is_. And you have two hours to locate each other without us locating either of you first.'

'Wait, back up,' Katusya could feel the key getting slippery in his fingers, which made no sense because he totally wasn't freaking out. Not now. Not _here_. '_Where's_ the freaking bomb, Daisuke? What the hell am I looking for here?'

The boy's eyebrows rise ever so slightly. 'Okay, fine,' he sighed. 'If you really can't work it out on your own.'

* * *

'It's a concentrated explosive, so it's probably going to be painless,' the girl said calmly. 'Or at least, too _quick_ to be painful, anyway. Why drag this out longer than it needs to?' 

He fingered the metal ring clasping his throat, feeling the faint ticking that whispered through the surface. 'I guess I shouldn't have let you make the rules after all,' he muttered. 'You really do treat everything like a game, with no potential for failure.'

'And that's the way it always works for you, too, isn't it, Other Yuugi?'

She looked up at him, and Yugi felt his heart clench just a little. The Other Yuugi was awake and on the surface of his mind before he could protest about it.

'You know?'

'Of course' Rio shrugged. 'I've _always_ known. Little Yuugi's good, sure, but he couldn't possibly have done half of the things you did. They required too much subtlety and risk taking for him to handle. I always knew you existed, and so does Narumi.' Yuugi flinched. 'Yeah. Strange, isn't it, Muto? How perceptive he is. How much he understands. Who knows, maybe if you survive this game, the two of you might make a pretty decent team together. Depending on your survival of course. And little Narumi… he won this game once before, you know. With style, too. I wonder,' she went on, thoughtfully. 'If you can give us as good a demonstration.' She left the silence hanging for a moment. 'Still sure you don't want to back out, Yuugi Muto? Whichever one you are.'

Yuugi stood a little taller. 'I don't see that it would be an option, now, even if I wanted to.'

'Hm. Yeah, well, that's okay. You're right. It's too late for you to back out now, anyway. There's only one key that can deactivate that bomb around your neck now, and I don't have it.'

Yuugi's eyes narrowed lightly. 'Then who does?'

* * *

'Are… are you trying to tell me that this bomb… it's around… Yuugi's _neck_?' Jounouchi repeated. The words sent a shock right to his spine, like something out of a bad dream or those creepy movies Honda made him watch then they were so far under the age limit it had even creeped Jounouchi out. 

'That's right; finally you seem to grasp the concept.' Daisuke smiled at him. 'Well it was the most logical way to ensure you didn't both just run off as soon as the game started. You did say,' he added in response to the look on Jounouchi's face, 'that we could make the rules as we saw fit to make them.' He sighed. 'The Duel Monsters Card in question acts as the end-target for the game. Once all tasks have been completed, whoever's hand that card falls into is the winner. It's currently in a hidden location which Yuugi should be revealing to Rio any second now. Once that's happened, the game starts. It's up to you to find Narumi before we do, _and_ to get the key to Yuugi.'

Jounouchi shuddered, his brain doing a few basic calculations that any other time he would've found too hard to bother with. 'But, wait, that's like…'

'Yeah, exactly,' the boy's smile deepened. 'You can't exactly do _both _now, can you? Or… maybe you _can_, but it's going to take some serious thinking. Still, you do have that phone I gave you. You can always call either of them if you think you need some help. But then again, that might not be such a good idea with Narumi. It's not usually a good idea to shock an anaphylactic when they're negotiating with bees' nests. _Literally_. Like I said, it's going to take some consideration, isn't it? Oh and by the way don't try and call for help on that thing,' he pointed at the cell phone. 'It's hotwired to the bomb itself. Any attempt to do so and… well, you know. _Kaboom_. Goodbye Duel Monsters Champion Yuugi Muto.'

Jounouchi hadn't asked earlier what had happened to Narumi. Hadn't even _thought_ about it… his fists clenched a little tighter, cursing him for his own stupidity.

'Oh. God, you twisted little…'

'You have two hours Katsuya,' the boy interrupted. 'if you don't want either of them dead, I suggest you get to playing this game as quickly as you possibly can. Lives are at stake here, you know. and I'm not just talking about Yugi and Narumi. We'll be letting you out in a couple of minutes. Hell, we'll even give you a ten minute head start if it makes you feel better.'

'…Freaks, gods _damn it!_'

Jounouchi threw himself at the door but it was already closing and his fists slam against hard steel instead of the back of the Blade Child's head. He sank down slowly into the chair, the key clutched far too tightly in his fingers. 'Yuugi…'

* * *

**Kinda wish I could continue this one... as well. Spial crossover, still. **


	8. On Holographic Technology

On Universal Complications.

**Standard Disclaimers apply. As usual, the actual crossove ris mentioned at the end. **

* * *

On the Holographic Technology Destroying Your Home Town. 

Holograms, they called them.

That was it. Just… highly technologically advanced holograms that had been developed in Japan and rumoured to encompass the highest level of technology known to mankind. But still, nothing more than images of augmented reality brought into 3D by simple lumps of plastic and clever wiring.

Holograms her _ass_.

She saw blood on the ground when she finally got her vision back, but was fairly sure it wasn't hers or Hollander's or that other Jou boys, so that was probably alright. No need to worry about exactly whose it was, for now. Mark was still catching his breath and she couldn't even _see_ Jou anymore but the guy had probably bounced when he made contact with the ground, or something, so she wasn't too concerned about him.

'Uh… Heather?'

'Who were you expecting?'

Mark blinked, actually looking more relieved than she'd expected as he finally came back into focus. 'Right. Um. You okay…?'

The sharp comment that had been simmering nicely on Heather's tongue up and died in her throat. 'Yeah. I Think so.'

'Good.'

'Mark… One thing…'

'Mm?

Heather fumbled with the "deck" in her hand, finding that action oddly comforting right now, so she reached out and shoved the pack of cards irritably into Mark's hand before she could get too used to it. 'If You. Or Chuck. Or anyone else in this damn insane little group of yours even _thinks_ for one damn freaking moment more about taking up Duel Monsters… I am going to kill each and every one of you. And find a way to get you to skip town.'

'Oh… right.'

Another long silent moment in which Heather was happy to just lie there and pretend noting hurt for a while longer. 'So I'd better not mention that having to skip town which… which we might have to do now _anyway_, is really kind of redundant if we're already—'

'Mark, be quiet.'

Mark didn't argue.

In fact, it wasn't until the building started falling that he seemed to find his tongue again, and a familiar and oft used phrase of his came back into practice .

'This cannot be happening.'

'Hollander, you're right for once,' Heather said, her voice disturbingly serene as she gazed up at the silver form wrapping itself around the nearby building, hearing the crack of metal and shattering of glass and possibly broken scales raining down to the pavement. 'This can't be happening because giant dragons don't form out of thin air. This can't be happening because there's no such thing as monsters, freaks or videogame characters that've come to life. This can't be happening because you had the common sense to turn off the duel disc before we came out here and didn't have the stupidity to let it fall into the hands of the—

Mark rolled his eyes. 'Alright, Heather, _alright_. Your point is made.'

'Right,' Heather said dryly. 'So now that we've established that yes – the freaks are real and yes- they're about to demolish Conestoga hills even as we speak. Why don't we get to work on stopping them?'

'I can't believe this…'

'S'like I said at the beginning. You get used to it.'

Mark didn't think he _wanted_ to get used to it. Videogame characters coming to life were one thing. Sentient holograms and international relations? Another thing entirely.

...Well, okay so they were _kind of_ the same thing, but one Mark could handle -the other he definitely couldn't.

He whirled on Jounouchi. 'Okay, well you… you must have something planned for situations like this, right?

Yeah, two right in one day Hollander, good for you. Seriously, Jounouchi. I mean surely you have a… a game plan for this or something.'

Jou gazed up firmly at the building. 'Yeah…' he said slowly. 'No worries, we're okay. We have a game plan for sitches like this alright.'

Mark looked up with a spark of hope. 'Great! What is it?'

'Scream for Yuugi.'

Mark hit himself in the forehead with his duel disk. Then wished he'd done it a little bit harder.

* * *

**Crossover is YugiOh and Ace Lightning. (Come on, surely SOMEONE knows what I'm talking about there?)**


	9. On Haunted Houses

**It's been a while since I wrote in this fanfic. The previous chapters are kinda old and rubbish, but I'm so close to completion now, I couldn't let it go, and anyhow I was... inspired. :) I hope you enjoy it. **

**Standard Disclaimers apply. **

* * *

On Haunted Houses.

All of a sudden, choosing a flat this far out of town because of the low rent didn't seem such a good idea after all. Nobody had told her that ghosts came as a part of the package.

'Are... are you saying that she might be watching me _right_ now?' Anzu hisses, curling her hands into fists in her pyjama pockets. The transparent ghost girl, dressed in rags and tatters just like the little match girl in her junior ballet production when she was six, nods rapidly.

'_Hushhhh, it was a long time ago, yet still I fear she may be listening_...'

The young girl's fingers curl into Anzu's dressing gown, and Anzu very pointedly does not ask how a ghost can even _do_ that. _'The Bedlam sees and knows everything, child, she needs no dolls to spy on _you_.' _

Everything about her is _pointedly_ this evening. She pointedly ignores the tendrils of sleep crawling about her shoulder, knowing she has to be awake in just three hours and get ready for college, and the warmth of her bed calling her back. She pointedly doesn't listen to the scribbling scratching of mice or rats or whatever they are around the skirting boards.

She pointedly keeps looking at her own reflection in the mirror, refusing to let it frighten her into looking away.

And she pointedly _ignores_ the shining blackness of the ghost girl's button eyes. 'I'm sorry... But I don't understand why you're _here_. Are you trying to tell me that this... this woman, the bedlam, you called her. She's had you trapped here for all this time? Alone?'

'_No no, not always alone... not _always. _The other girl, the special one. She came. She saved the others, but she didn't know my soul was there. I was left behind_. _She took the key; threw it down the well, threw it far, far away, where the Bedlam couldn't see. So the bedlam was trapped, harmless and alone, to spy on the children who came to this place, but never to touch. But with your arrivalthat has changed..._' The ghost girl shivers, rubbing the edge of one of her shining button eyes. _'It hurts me to be here... I need to push myself through the mirror. But she sees all so easily... She wishes to come back to this world. She will try to trick you. Be wary of her games.' _

'Good advice. And... And she usually needs those dolls in order to see people, right?' Anzu feels a shudder down her spine and represses thoughts of voodoo. 'But... why not with me? Why don't I have a doll like you did?'

'_Because your eyes are an open world to her, Miss. You have touched the shadows where they are deepest, and the terror where it is greatest. You have seen the darkness from whence the bedlam came. You know of her world, and so _she_ knows of yours_.'

Of course. That makes sense in a creepy, otherworldly dark magical way. It's like trading names on a friends website so the other can see all of your details, except that this exchange isn't willing at all. Yet another thing to blame millennium magic for. Yuugi is going to freak out when she calls to tell him about this.

...She kind of wants to call him now. It's not too late an hour back in Domino. No later than eight pm, surely... He'd _listen_, he'd believe her he wouldn't laugh or freak out when she told him the pretty pink boarding house she was staying in was Haunted. He would help her...

She wonders, how did the other girl do this? The _special one_ of whom the ghost speaks. The saviour. The weather witch. The one who freed the other children's souls, but accidentally missed this one, poor little thing in the darkness.

The shapes shift within the mirror, angry and sharp and so, so not human. She thinks she can make out the twitching curling legs of a spider, the darkness of another world wrapped up in fake dreams. A tremor reaches out to Anzu's spine, the ghost's terror is curling around her like fine treads. In the shadow of the mirror Anzu can see things moving which shouldn't be there; things that remind her of the shadowy cold places conjured up by millennium a moment, she sees her own face, her own eyes as thick, black buttons, and a sneer face that is very much not her own.

The most frightening thing about it is how _happy_ the button-eyed Anzu looks. Anzu flinches.

'_Alas. You are afraid. I am so sorry to have asked thi__s of you.' _

Anzu pushes down her anxiety with a cast iron nerve it has taken her several years and three almost-apocalypses to develop. 'N-no, don't be silly. I mean of course I'm scared, but... but I'm not going to leave you like this!'

Anzu swallows as she reaches out, touches the mirror, feels her fingers slip into its surface like liquid metal. 'If this is the only way to get your soul back, then I guess somebody has to do it,' she mutters quietly. 'I... I'm brave. I know I'm brave.'

And then she steps forwards into the glass.

* * *

**YuGiOh and Coraline. I love that film. **


	10. On Artificial Intelligence

**Standard disclaimers apply. I take no responsibility for the absolute lack of logic in... Well, actually, that's a lie. I take full responsibility for it. Just try not to take it too seriously, folks, that'll spoil whatever marginal bit of fun you may get out of it.**

* * *

On Artificial Intelligence.

One thing about bad guys which always seems to be the same, whether you're out on the streets of Domino, racing through the back alleys of New Mexico, or gunning down the streets of California, is the black jeeps and helicopters.

You can always count on black jeeps and helicopters.

He can hear gunfire rattling all around them, and even though, by now, he's growing accustomed to the fact that he doens't have to worry about silly things like that while he's inside of _this_ thing (the explosives clatter and thud against the car's windshield but otherwise do no damage), Mokuba finds himself swallowing, clinging a little tighter, and trying very pointedly not to look at the driver's seat besides him.

The driver's seat which is completely empty, its steering wheel turning wildly of its own accord.

'_I have to say, when Devon said we would be paying a visit to a theme park this isn't what either of us had in mind_.' The electronic voice says, calmly, in spite of the vehicles on their tailpipe. _'Do you get this _every_ time your brother opens a new venture, or is it just that the mobs of California don't like you?'_

Mokuba resists the urge to add his own credit to the creation of Kaibaland California. Really, his brother _did_ do most of the work anyway. 'Uh... just here, I think.' Mokuba swallows. 'I wouldn't say this is the first time we've been caught up in something crazy, though.'

The car jolts sharply, shifting away from another of the two jeeps approaching on either side. _'There are things crazier?' _

'Sure there are. Apocalypses, crazy monsters popping out of pocket dimensions, attempts on our lives after being dragged into our own virtual reality simulations... that kind of thing.'

'_...I see.'_ The car (and did he mention that how crazy it is that this conversation is even happening?) sounds rather confused. 'And have you ever had dealings with these particular people before?'

'Not that I'm aware of. Could be thought, I mean, my brother kinda has a few enemies.'

'_Yes, I've read the case files_.' The car continues to swerve shifting them out of the main streets and into the dingy side roads surrounding the central city. Windows and washing lines sweep past at high speed, _'Seto Kaiba has quite the portfolio on his hands already: Founder of an entire chain of amusement parks. Not to mention the owner of a multimillion dollar weapons corporation at the age of _sixteen_, at which point the entire company changed its production from militia to games and digital technology. Actually, I'm fairly sure I have a few parts that came from Kaiba Corp_.'

'Yeah?' Mokuba is neither fazed, nor fascinated. Everyone who knew anything about business knew of his brother's accomplishments. Actually, now that he thinks about it, there is that super computer in the basement of the mansion... the one he used to play chess with when he was very small and who always seemed to have a back answer whenever his brother started getting shirty with it. He'd thought that it was just a very cleverly programmed piece of software, but looking at _this_ car... Who knew, maybe FLAG did play a role in it.

'_Yes, and I think that probably has something to do with this. I need to track down my partner and see whether or not he's managed to locate where they're keeping your brother.' _

'Yeah? And what's your partner?' Mokuba couldn't help but smirk in spite of their situation. 'A roadster?'

'_He's as flesh and blood as you are, actually_,' The car sounded put out. 'Though he usually tried to pretend otherwise_. I'm starting to think it was a bad idea leaving him to wander into that office block on his own. I'm not quite sure what's so special about an ordinary theme park_...' Mokuba crushed down an irrational surge of annoyance at this brush off. After all, the car was just trying to help.

The _car_ was just trying to help.

God, just when he'd thought it couldn't get any crazier than Yugi Mutou and his ancient Egyptian curses. '..._But whatever it is it's bad enough that they would kidnap a world famous businessman in broad daylight ._ _What we need to do now is get you somewhere safe—'_'

'No way,' Mokuba snaps, immediately. 'You're not leaving me anywhere. I'm _going_ to help you find my brother.'

'_I don't think you have any say in that, Mister Kaiba, the doors are locked, we're being shot at, and there is no way I am going to allow you to run into danger.' _

'Oh big deal, I run into danger all the time! Apocalypses and virtual realities, remember?'

'_Be that as it may you're only a boy...'_

'With an IQ of one hundred and fifty six!'

'_And an extremely easily damaged endoskeleton and body parts so flimsy they might as well come with spares at birth I'm not programmed to endanger human life._.'

'Look, I'm not getting out of this car until you take me to my brother.'

'_And I'm not going to find your brother until I get you out of my passenger seat.' _

'Yes you are. Your partner's probably with him right now, isn't he? Don't you think it'd be a lot faster for you to drive straight to the source without making a detour to drop me off in the nearest police station? Besides, what if those guys come after me again? I'm a lot safer behind something bulletproof, don't you think?'

There is a moment of silence. Or at least as silent as it can be when you're sitting in a speeding car jolting back and forth through empty alleyways. '..._You make a good point_.'

'Ha. Score.' Mokuba grinned, then his good mood fizzled out again and he slumped. 'Man, seriously. Kaiba Corp is facing a hostile takeover –_again_– and I'm arguing with a talking car.'

'_Actually, that isn't strictly true. You're communicating with the _Knight Industries Two Thousand_'s artificial intelligence, which happens to be installed within a car. And a fine vehicle it is. _'

'Right, right. Whatever. So what am I suppose to _call_ you, anyway? Knight Industries Two Thousand is a bit of a mouthful.'

'_My friends usually call me KITT. And am I to continue calling you Mr Kaiba? No offence, but it doesn't exactly suit you.._.'

The boy chuckled. 'Mokuba will be just fine, KITT. Now where are the rest of the bad guys meant to be, and where do you keep the hacking equipment in this fancy computer of yours?'

Mokuba could swear the car is actually _tutting_ at this_. 'I never thought I'd say this but I honestly prefer Michael's... Oh my.' _

'What?' Mokuba looks up, and...

'_Well...'_

It's kind of like something out of a bad movie he's already seem a thousand times. He knows exactly how it ends. They've left the alleyways and emerged into a deserted square in the middle of a ring of tower blocks. Deserted, that is, excepting for the four, shining black cars standing at the other side, resolutely blocking the only exit.

'_So, Mokuba... _Now_ do you believe it'll be safer if I drop you off?' _

'Fat chance,' Mokuba muttered, unable to keep from pouting just a little. There was a way out of this, he was sure. There was no way that an advanced piece of technology like this one wouldn't have been programmed with some way out... There was no way he was going to scare him out of this. 'I've taken on worse than this. It's just a bunch of mooks in perfectly normal cars with perfectly normal guns. They're not a patch on you, right?'

'_Flattery will get you everywhere, Mister Kaiba, except out of a trip to the nearest police station.' _

Damned super intelligent cars. 'I thought we agreed on Mokuba?'

'_We'll discuss it later, for now we have a blockage to get around_.' There was the hissing rev of KITT backing up into the alleyway they emerged from;. Fr a second, Mokuba thought it (he?) was going to try and navigate the entire labyrinth backwards the way they'd came. But then the wheels spin and the car jerks forwards in the direction of the blockade. '_The button to your left. When I say _now_, I want you to press it_.'

Mokuba glimpsed uncertainly at the control panel. 'Which button? There are like, a million buttons here.'

'_The one marked Turbo Boost.' _

'Oh. Wait, does that do what I think it—'

'_Mokuba, __**now**__!' _

Mokuba does. And then thanks god that he's wearing that passive laser restraint system.

* * *

**YuGiOh/Knight Rider (the original 1984 series. No, I'm not quite that old).**


	11. On Origins

**Well, I said there would be ten crossovers, and this appears to be the last of them. It's been fun. And since this is the last chapter of the series, I figured I'd do something a little special. **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed. **

* * *

On Multiple Origins. 

Sitting in the crowded schoolroom, the two Yuugi's sit quietly side by side, and watch the events before them take place.

Or more specifically, the _three_ Yugi's. The third cannot be seen. He stands as a silhouette just beyond the depth of human perception, watching these events with gritted teeth and tightly folded arms. All the while he is wordlessly warning Yugi to be careful.

'This is some kinda temporal paradox thing, isn't it?' Joey is asking, and for once, Tristan is not biting back in surprise at the fact that Jounouchi even knows that word. He's a little preoccupied with the mirror image of his own face, standing there and blinking at him. 'I mean it; we've been sucked through some kinda portal to the distant past. This is the bit where the ghost shows up an' tells us all to change our ways.'

'If you call a Monday morning on the fifteenth of December five years ago the distant past,' Téa says, dryly. She doesn't sound convinced. If there's one thing they are sure about, it's that this situation cannot be simply explained away as a time paradox. If it were that simple then why were the other guys using such silly names? 'We're not in the Jurassic period, Joey. And as far as I can tell... this is Domino High School.'

'Yeah. Wonderful. Glad we've got that sorted out.' Joey says. 'Now how the heck do we get _out_ of this place?'

'Well for a start, we stop yelling at our alternate selves. We're the trespassers here, Joey, not them.'

The smaller Yuugi shuffles in his chair, sitting with his hands raised and palms facing outwards. Yugi recognizes the gesture very well, though he hasn't made it himself in years now. 'Ah...are they always like this?'

Yugi sighs. 'Most of the time, yeah. You get used to it.'

'Well this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever,' Tristan mutters. 'Tread easy, guys. If we so much as step on a butterfly we'll probably change the course of history an' cause an apocalypse.'

'Oh, what else is new anyway,' Téa mutters. She's eyeing their Téa closely, as if she's questioning everything from her Uniform colour to her eyes, as if trying to seek out some kind of common ground. 'We're at the centre of an apocalypse every other weekend. No reason to suspect this universe is different.'

'Every reason, actually,' the other Tristan mutters. 'I have _not_ started an apocalypse recently. Joey frowns, as if the sound of Tristan speaking without verbal contractions is somehow highly offensive to him.

'Man, _screw_ the butterflies!' Joey is yelling. 'Have you seen this place? Its _nuts_. Kaiba has _green hair_ for crying out loud!'

'You think that's weird?' Honda frowns, pointing at Yugi (both of him). 'You hang around with _that_ guy.'

'So do you! Well... a version of him, anyway.'

'We do?' Honda doesn't seem convinced. 'Hey, Yuugi never hangs around with _anyone_, he just sits in the classroom making puzzles all day. The guy makes the _girls_ look tough. Which admittedly isn't all that hard what with battle axes like Mazaki around—'

The other Téa yelps and thwacks Jounouchi around the shoulder. 'Hey! Just because you're nervous doesn't give you the right to be a jerk, Jounouchi. And anyway if this is a temporal issue then why have your manners gone backwards to preschool levels?'

'Ow! I'm not _bein'_ a jerk! I'm just pointing out the guy's about as whimpy as they come.'

'Hey!' Joey hesitates and glimpses in Yugi's direction with an apologetic expression. '...Man, I still say your universe is crazy, man. I mean, who walks around with _green_ hair?'

Jounouchi frowns. 'In spite of the fact that from what _you've_ said, your world seems to have gone as nuts for duel monsters as Kaiba is? Since when did I even know how to use those things?' He jabs at the duelling deck Joey has had clenched in his hand ever since they arrived.

'Since the Shadow Realm started trying to blow up the world using 'em on a regular basis, _that's_ when.'

'I'm sorry,' Anzu blinks. 'The... shadow _what_?'

'You've never heard of the shadow realm?' Joey looks at Téa. 'Damn. You were right. This isn't just time travel.'

'Actually it was me who said that,' Anzu pipes up.

'Gah! What does it matter, you're _both the same_!'

This-Universe's-Yugi sighs, and there's no Millennium puzzle around his neck, not yet, so he doens't reach his hands up to it and hold onto it gently for reassurance, as Yugi knows he will one day soon. 'I'm sorry about all this...' He mumbles. 'I hate fighting.'

Yuugi's eyes trace the outlines of the puzzle box sitting on This-Universe's-Yugi's desk. 'Not too crazy about it myself. I wouldn't worry. I mean... all this yelling is just because they care.'

This-Universe's-Yugi looks up at him, as if he can't believe what Yugi is saying. 'Really?'

'Of course. They're not that mean, really. Take my Joey right there, for example... he's only throwing his weight around because he feels out of control. I guess your Jounouchi is kind of like that too, right?'

He shuffles in his chair again and bites his lip, and Yugi tries to remember if he was ever really this shy and nervous. '...I suppose he might be like that. I don't really know him well.'

'Just give it time. You'll be friends before you know it.'

This-Universe's-Yuugi doesn't seem all that convinced, and Yugi feels a momentary flinch, wondering if these are things he really shouldn't be discussing with an alternate self. It's not like there are any rules for this sort of thing. He's never travelled in time before. All he knows about the subject comes from western science fiction comedies.

Still, what harm can it possibly do? 'Here, look at this,' he says, holding the Millennium Puzzle, whole and beautiful, out towards his other. This-Universe's-Yugi reaches out to touch it gingerly. 'How... how long did it take you to complete it?'

'Yep., and I made a wish on it too, just like you did.' He's guessing here. Maybe this Yugi never made a wish at all, but a few moments later his eyes start shining, and Yugi knows he's guessed correctly.

'And... you got your wish?'

'Of course. And if you really _are_ another me, from somewhere in the past, then I bet you made the same wish I did. Believe me when I tell you. You'll complete the Millennium Puzzle, and your wish _will_ come true.'

They look up for a moment, at where Jounouchi and Joey appear to be challenging one another to a an arm wrestling contest to decide what they do next. This-Universe's-Yugi smiles faintly. Something like hope is shimmering in his eyes, and the sensation that look produces tugs on Yugi's brain like an old, old memory. There's something very, very strange about seeing another version of yourself so unexpectedly happy.

'...Do you have any other pieces of advice, from this future alternate world of yours, Yugi-san?'

The other Téa snaps and beats Honda over the head with her text book. Yugi –all three of him–suppresses a smile. It looks like some things never change, no matter which universe you're in. 'Yeah. Whatever you do, don't get on any planes to India without a good supply of non-perishable foodstuff's and a map. And look after Joey... your Jounouchi. He's gonna need it in the end.'

* * *

**YuGiOh (English 4Kids dub)/YuGiOh Season Zero , with a side reference to YuGiOh: Capsule Monsters. Most specifically, the setting of this fic is the morning before Joey steals a piece of Yuugi's unfinished puzzle and throws it out the window. **

**...Anybody remember season zero? If not, then go to Youtube and seek it out. You'll see where YuGiOh as an animated medium really began. **


End file.
